Archive for the 'Architect' Tag Under 'Soundcheck' Category

October 25th, 2010, 4:02 pm by GEORGE A. PAUL, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

After years of witnessing pulsating electronic dance music at Coachella and elsewhere, I've discovered the most memorable DJ sets are usually accompanied by either eye-popping lighting, visually stimulating imagery or both.

The latter element was definitely present during Recoil's first-ever local appearance on Sunday night in Santa Ana. Mastermind Alan Wilder last played Orange County as a member of Depeche Mode in 1994 (he exited that band soon after to focus more time on the solo project). Recoil's inaugural U.S. tour, which began earlier this month, drew fans from Europe and Asia for its Southern California run.

Selected, a new Recoil double-disc career retrospective, was assembled, remastered and edited together by Wilder and longtime musical collaborator Paul Kendall. It focuses on songs from 1992-2007, in addition to an album of new remixes. Diamanda Galas, Toni Halliday of Curve, Nitzer Ebb's Douglas McCarthy, spoken-word artists Maggie Estep and Nicole Blackman and Texas blues guitarist Joe Richardson, among others, are featured vocalists.

In a recent interview, Wilder told me his past shows here were “absolutely some of the highlights of my whole Depeche Mode career. There was the Rose Bowl event (before 75,000 people on the 1988 Music for the Masses Tour). We used to play regularly in Irvine … we did lots of shows there and they were always great crowds.”

During Recoil's sold-out Galaxy Theatre gig, only Wilder and Kendall held court onstage behind Apple Mac laptops and assorted electronic gadgetry to occasionally manipulate the sounds. Concert-goers were packed like sardines on the general-admission floor, which didn't leave room to dance (I would have limited the people allowed down there). Surprisingly, only a fraction of them bobbed their heads to the music. Maybe they were mesmerized by the frequently disturbing and explicit images projected on the huge backdrop screen.